Panic time!

We’re a long way from those cold January nights when the Rangers were slipping further and further out of the playoff picture, and I considered bring in a psychiatrist as guest blogger.

It’s true, the Rangers are 1-3 this preseason, and even more disconcerting is the fact that both humiliating losses have come with Jagr, Gomez, and Lundqvist in the lineup.

But still…it is the preseason. While the Rangers have admittedly used these first four games more for assessment purposes, their opponents have almost all fielded their full varsities in hopes of putting on a good show for their fans.

I’m not suggesting there aren’t some trouble spots there for the Rangers because surely there are. What I am saying, though, is they may be slightly exaggerated at this point.

We’ll find out more today. I didn’t make the trip to Detroit or even have the game to watch on TV, so if Tom Renney tells us today that Al Montoya went end-to-end on a rush, I might have to take his word for it.

Either way, count on the roster taking more shape soon. Given the fireworks on Monday, the Rangers will be playing to win on Friday against the Islanders, and will certainly want the same for the preseason finale on Saturday.

With that in mind, I’d expect a number of players sent to Hartford as early as today.

31 Comments

It’s pretty obvious to me now, and also on the opening day of free-agency, that $10million spent on Scott Gomez this year was probably better spent using $4.5 million on Mr. Nylander and $5.5 million on a solid defensman.

Lundqvist can’t save this team forever and they really don’t have one solid defensman besides Girardi. Perhaps Tyutin or Staal can step up. But, Roszival and Mara are porous and lacking physical play in their own zone.

SAM I agree, it’s time to get he roster down to regular season players and maybe 3 kids to make the final decisions. I think they’ll send down Dubinsky & Staal while keeping Hutchinson, Dawes & Pock or other roster players up as possible trade bait. Let’s hear your predictions.

I think Hutch needs to pack his bags for Hartford.
I see the 6 D-men as : Malik, Roszy, Tyutin, Girardi, Mara & Pock with Struds as #7 in the skybox.
This would not be my choice as i would like to see Malik warming a seat on an Amtrak headed out west somewhere and Staal getting 18+ minutes a night. But, i just don’t see anyone desperate enough to take a chance on the 6’5″ marshmallow telegraph pole and his lofty +/-.

I’m not worried at all about Gomez, when there’s points to be won this team will turn show its quality.

Detroit pretty much put out their starting night lineup, and just tore us to shreds. We were exposed at both ends of the ice.

Our defense was shaky at best. Hutchinson is NOT impressive. Malik made a bonehead play or two (big surprise) but generally played well.

Korpedo and Dubinsky really turned it on at times but it was noticeable that some points in the game they were going faster than others, so I’d say it wasn’t a consistent effort.

Gomez and Jagr were invisible tonight, for the most part. They had a few really good shifts towards the end of the game.

Hollweg had a pretty damn good game. If he can play all season like he played last night, he might just be a keeper. He was concentrating less on making the huge hit and more on the game as a whole, at least from my vantage point. Where in the past he would bypass the play to go for the hit, now he seemed to be more aware of the entire game and would make the play if it was a better option.

Smith didn’t impress me. That about sums his game last night up in a nutshell.

Sauer’s penalty was awful. It was a delayed Red Wings penalty, and the puck floated loose between the hashmarks in front of our empty net, and he hooked a Red Wings player moving towards the puck. Pointless since the whistle would have blown when the guy touched the puck, but I’ll chalk it up to nerves. He didn’t play a standout game but he was pretty solid.

The Joe is a pretty good place to watch a game though, and Detroit fans are pretty cool. Friendly, a little bit of ribbing, but overall seeing a game there was a great experience.

ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pretty obvious to me now, and also on the opening day of free-agency, that $10million spent on Scott Gomez this year was probably better spent using $4.5 million on Mr. Nylander and $5.5 million on a solid defensman.

“ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pretty obvious to me now, and also on the opening day of free-agency, that $10million spent on Scott Gomez this year was probably better spent using $4.5 million on Mr. Nylander and $5.5 million on a solid defensman. ”

yes, but technically to us Gomez is 7.357 cap hit in all 7 seasons, so if we could have had Nylander for 4.5(and we likely could) we would have almost 3 million to upgrade defense and backup goaltending.

It is so funny to me hearing people pushing the panic button already. We had a pretty good pre season last year and SUCKED in the beginning of the year. You can not put a new team together and expect them to be perfect right away. I would rather suck in the pre season and then come out and play well when it matters. Most of you need to relax and start worrying if we start the season 0-5. Until then, watch the games for what they are worth, which is pretty much nothing. Kids trying to ear spots, different combinations and who has chemistry with who. If we started our opening night roster every game and still had the same results then I would be a little more worried, but we haven’t.

It is so funny to me hearing people pushing the panic button already. We had a pretty good pre season last year and SUCKED in the beginning of the year. You can not put a new team together and expect them to be perfect right away. I would rather suck in the pre season and then come out and play well when it matters. Most of you need to relax and start worrying if we start the season 0-5. Until then, watch the games for what they are worth, which is pretty much nothing. Kids trying to ear spots, different combinations and who has chemistry with who. If we started our opening night roster every game and still had the same results then I would be a little more worried, but we havenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t.

COLUMBUS DISPATCH: reports Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock is still seeking a first line centre. The experiment with winger Nikolai Zherdev didn’t work out and now Hitchcock is reduced to trying Jiri Novotny and Kris Beech at the position. Speaking of Zherdev, Aaron Portzline yesterday reported the enigmatic winger has shown no desire to score and may have played his way out of consideration as a top-six forward.

Spector’s Note: Zherdev is skating on thin ice with this team, and if he doesn’t start showing improvement in his game during the opening weeks of the season could find himself on the trade block, although with his contract and his poor work ethic there might not be much interest in his services.”

Well, I don’t think we can get rid of Gomez and truth-be-told the Rangers are better off having him than dumping him and being in the position of 3 good centers than they were last year.

My main point is that Nylander had chemistry with Jagr, that’s undoubtedly true. He would have probably taken a 3-year contract. And I understand that Gomez makes $10million this year, $4.0million his last year and an average of $7.35 million but look at it this way…we’re still paying a guy who had 13 goals and 60 points last year, a guy who’s only scored 20 goals once in his career (of 7 years) $10million!!!

Is Gomez an elite center?! OR, is he just one of the best that was up for this year’s free agency? I tend to think the later and its unfortunate that the Rangers didn’t wait it out a little longer or invest the money in defense because theirs last year (and this year) is horrible.